publications

Beating the Heat in the 1930s

The mid 1930s saw some of the hottest summer temperatures ever recorded in Nebraska. When Ruth Godfrey Donovan and her family moved to Lincoln in 1934, the Depression and a severe drought were well underway. Donovan, who lived in a small apartment near downtown Lincoln, recalled: “Sleeping was difficult during that heatridden time. Sometimes it would be so hot inside the building we dragged the cushions from the living room couch out on the front porch and slept on them in the cooler outside air.”



Other Lincolnites indulged in outdoor sleeping in public spaces to keep cool. Donovan remembered “watching people arrive early in each evening to sleep on the green expanse of the State Capitol lawn! About 4 or 4:30 every afternoon they started to come. They would arrive in all sorts of automobiles and also on foot. The places where they lived were just too hot for sleep. So they brought all sorts of bedrolls, blankets and even mattresses and camped out nightly on the Capitol lawn.”



The earliest air conditioning devices had large-scale applications in factories, theaters, and other large buildings. Small-scale designs for residential cooling came later. Donovan recalled: “At that time air conditioning was still a householder’s dream. The movie theaters had the first air conditioning and after an excessively hot day, an evening spent in an air conditioned movie was a great relief. We went often. . . .



“The iceman was still making his daily rounds at that time. I prepared for his coming by placing a large washtub in the center of the living room floor. Then I watched for him. When I saw his small truck in front I rushed out and asked for a fifty pound piece of the delightfully cold product. He would bring it into the apartment and place it in the tub. Then I turned a strategically placed electric fan to blow on the block of ice. For several hours I gloated over the cooling breezes!



“The first home air conditioner I ever saw was made by the neighbors who lived in the apartment at the front of that house. The lady called me in one very hot day. ‘I have something to show you,’ she said. ‘It really works on this terrible heat.’ As I entered the front door of her apartment I believed her. Her apartment was quite a bit cooler than mine-not realy [sic] cool but cool in comparison. The wonder of the year was setting by an east window of her living room. The main part of the air cooler was nothing more than an old automobile radiator. The window behind it was open slightly, just enough to allow a garden hose to be passed in to the coils of the radiator and another piece of hose to go from the coils and out of the window. An electric fan was placed behind the radiator and blew a steady stream of air on the coils. The mixture of cold water going through and the air from the fan produced cool air for the room! It seemed miraculous.”





Kool-Aid, a favorite summer drink of Depression youngsters, was developed by Hastings inventor Edwin Perkins. 

Nebraska State Historical Society Collection.
 



(July 2009)

Become a Member!

Our members make history happen.

Join Now

Other Publications

The Bachelors’ Protective Union of Kearney

When the Bachelors' Protective Union gave a gala reception for two of its newly married, former members and their brides in March of 1890, the social club for young, ...

U.S. Weather Bureau in 1890s Nebraska

The U.S. Weather Bureau was established by an act of Congress on October 1, 1890. It took over the weather service that had been established in the office of the Chief ...

Canning the Way to Victory

During American participation in World War I the U.S. Food Administration, under the direction of Herbert Hoover, launched a massive campaign to persuade Americans to ...

The Shoemaker’s Ashes

"Edward Kuehl, one of the most peculiar characters that ever lived in Omaha, or anywhere else, was found dead in his bed last night in the back room of his place of ...

Crazy Horse Surrender Ledger Foreward

Red Dog, an Oglala Lakota who lived at the Red Cloud Agency, Nebraska, 1876-77 (Nebraska State Historical Society RG2955.ph).   In the summer of 1876, following the ...

Darryl F. Zanuck

Darryl F. Zanuck Darryl F. Zanuck (1902-1979), a native Nebraskan, produced some of Hollywood's most important and controversial films. He helped found 20th Century Fox ...

The Burlington’s Profitable Pork Special

Nebraska railroads were much concerned with developing an adequate economy in the areas they served. The Burlington, for example, had a long history of caring for the ...

Bungalow Filling Stations

After the giant Standard Oil Company was broken into thirty-four separate companies in 1911, the newly independent Standard Oil of Nebraska dominated the state's market ...

The Bull Fight

This is the perfect time of year for a visit to the old fishin' hole. But a group of fisherfolk from Plainview discovered that this bucolic pastime sometimes has ...

Buffalo Soldiers West

African-American soldiers on the western frontier are the focus of an exhibit at the Nebraska History Museum in Lincoln. Buffalo Soldiers West, on loan from the Colorado ...

Protection for Buffalo

The extermination of the buffalo on the Plains occurred largely between 1870 and 1885. The Nebraska State Journal of Lincoln on February 1, 1874, editorialized in vain ...

Buffalo Hunting

In late October 1877 young Rolf Johnson and three friends left their homes in Phelps County, Nebraska, for a buffalo hunt in northeastern Colorado. The hunt was not very ...

About NSHS

The Nebraska State Historical Society was founded in 1878 by citizens who recognized Nebraska was going through great changes and they sought to record the stories of both indigenous and immigrant peoples. It was designated a state institution and began receiving funds from the legislature in 1883. Legislation in 1994 changed NSHS from a state institution to a state agency. The division is headed by Interim Director Cindy Drake. They are assisted by an administrative staff responsible for financial and personnel functions, museum store services, security, and facilities maintenance for NSHS.

Explore Nebraska

Discover the real places and people of our past at these NSHS sites.

Upcoming Events

View our new and upcoming events to see how you can get involved.

Become a Member

The work we do to discover, preserve, and share Nebraska's history wouldn't be possible without the support of NSHS members.

NSHS Education

Learn more about the educational programs provided at our museums, sites, and online.

Education Digital Learning Resources

Find games, lists, and more to enhance your history education curriculum.

Latest Hall of Fame Inductee

The Nebraska Hall of Fame was established in 1961 to officially recognize prominent Nebraskans.

Listen to our Podcast

Listen to the articles and authors published in the Nebraska History Magazine with our new Nebraska History Podcast!

Nebraska Collections

NSHS's mission is to collect, preserve, and open our shared history to all Nebraskans.

Our YouTube Video Collection

Get a closer look at Nebraska's history through your own eyes, with our extensive video collections.

Additional Research Resources

NSHS's Research and Reference Services help connect you to the material we collect and preserve.

NSHS Services

Digital Resources

Find all of our digital resources, files, videos, and more, all in one easy-to-search page!

Support The Historical Society

Make a cash donation to help us acquire, preserve, and interpret Nebraska’s history. Gifts to the Nebraska State Historical Society help leave a legacy and may help your taxes, too! Support the work of NSHS.

Volunteers are the heroes of NSHS. So much history, so little time! Your work helps us share access to Nebraska’s stories at our museums and sites, the reference room, and online.